How to start your search for your new home in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market
Charleston. Mount Pleasant. Summerville. Daniel Island. West Ashley. James Island. Johns Island. North Charleston. Goose Creek.
The names change but when all is said and done, these communities are just some of the many areas in what is more commonly known as The Lowcountry, the greater Charleston South Carolina area. Finding the right place to live in such a sprawling area can be challenging, especially for those relocating to Charleston from other parts of the country.
You can search more effectively by answering a few questions to help find the perfect home for your family in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market.
Where will you be working?
Charleston is a city of personal transportation. The cars jam the roads every morning and evening and rarely will you see any car pooling and perish the thought, anyone using mass transit. It’s fairly common for Charleston area residents to drive 20 or more miles to get to work. The most interesting thing is that you can practically live anywhere and work anywhere and still get there in a reasonable time unless the drivers had a bad day and tie up the roads with accidents. Still, many do not want to sit in traffic and waste time every day so it might make sense to live somewhat near where you will be working if at all possible.
What do you like to do?
Beach? Golf? Culture? History? Fine Dining? The now disgraced former Charleston Southern University economist, Al Parrish, once described the Charleston real estate market as being one of driving until you qualify. In other words, Historic Downtown Charleston is the most expensive real estate in the area and as you go further from the center of town, housing becomes more affordable. While the beaches can’t be included in that description and although there are pockets of very high end real estate in the outlying areas, in general, the theory holds rather well.
As to the beaches, they are very beautiful but they are even more expensive. However, no matter where in the Charleston area you live, you really are no further than 30 to 45 minutes from the beach. Historic Downtown Charleston is also easily accessible from almost anywhere in the area in about the same amount of time so you can visit all the attractions, enjoy the fine arts and have some of the finest cuisine in the country very easily.
Where do you want your children to attend school?
The best source of information on schools in the Charleston area can be found through links on my school information website page including school report cards. A direct link to the school report cards can be found here.
These are 3 of the considerations most commonly of concerned to clients relocating to the Charleston area and to help you with starting your search for a new home in the Charleston South Carolina area.
I adapted the concept and inspiration for this buyer advice from a post I noticed by Jonathan Dalton who authors a great blog in Phoenix AZ. Phoenix now seems to be the heart, soul and epicenter of real estate blogging and Jonathan certainly joins Greg Swann and the Bloodhound Blog, Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy and certainly others in the Valley of the Sun as some of the leading writers in the real estate industry today.